Fun Mail

 The Sew Mama Sew Giveaway is here.  Today is the last day to enter!

You know, when you do a bunch of swaps, like I did this fall, you not only get to stretch your creative boundaries and make fun things, but you receive fun things as well.  It is so much fun to receive those squishy fun mail packages!  Even my husband has taken to yelling, as he comes in from the mailbox, "You have fun mail!"  I think he's as excited as I am.

But as awesome as receiving the fun mail is, I don't feel the same way about taking the photos.  I wish I was one of those people who could resist tearing into the package until I had taken pictures of the whole outside - and then photograph the process step by step as the wonderfulness inside is revealed.

But that's not me.

I wish that I was uber confident about taking the photos, and that I could be sure I would get a shot of the essence of the item, whatever it is.  I wish that I had a photographic "style" and I could take pictures people would love to see, that would really do the items justice.

But that's not me either.

So I tend to procrastinate taking the pictures.  The weather's gloomy.  I have too much to do.  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.  I've even taken some photography lessons - and my photos are better.  But I'm still not confident.  But maybe...  just maybe...  they're improving.  I hope so.

Enough of that.  Today I'm going to share some of the awesome swappy stuff I've received recently.  This amazing set of baskets is from Michelle (A.Quilter.2) in the FLiRTS3 Swap.  In this swap, you get to suggest several things that you might like, and then your partner gets to pick what to make you.  When I re-did my sewing room, I added some little cubbies, so one of the things I suggested was a basket that would fit in the cubbies and hold stuff.  Michelle didn't just make me one basket, she made FOUR.  Aren't they pretty?  I love that the two big ones have handles on the front.  And you can see that the two smaller ones are in use already.  I have the one on the left on my sewing table holding bonus HSTs from various projects.  (I like keeping these separate so that when I want to use them, they are all together.)  So thanks, Michelle - these are very helpful - and beautiful - additions to my sewing space.

One of the very first swaps I ever participated in - and one I look forward to every year is the Trim the Tree Handmade Ornament Swap.  This sweet little house ornament is from Veronica (Veronica A.M.) 

This sweet little crochet mushroom ornament is from Erin (whynotsewquilts?)

This adorable little gingerbread man was from Amy (nellieanddot) and came with his own little garland to help decorate the tree!

And the very pretty tree is from Kerri at (sewdeerlyloved). 

Kerri also sent along a lovely selection of fabric scraps with her ornament.

And here they are as a group.  Don't they look like they were all made to go together?

And along about the same time I received this fun package from Dorte in Denmark in the Super Swaps Swap.  She made me these traditional ornaments.  Check out the star - it's made with a tape measure!

Here they are all together.  I'm gong to have such fun decorating the tree with all my new ornaments this year!

I also played along in the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap.  This was from my partner Joey in Singapore.  This was the first swap he (or she?) had ever participated in, and he's new to quilting.  Isn't this cute!

I've been taking part in Sewing With Friends for a year or more now.  Every two months we have a new partner.  We started out with mug rugs, but this year, there  is a new project every month.  This time, needlebooks were the assignment.  This is from Mary (Mary P in TX).  It came with a package of quilter's needles and a cute pair of embroidery scissors, but I've already put those to good use

There's lots of room inside for needles and pins.  I like having a number of needlebooks, since I often have several projects going at once.  That way I don't forget and leave a needle somewhere I shouldn't.  For some reason, the husband objects when I do that!

These are three of the blocks I received in the 3x6 Bee (oops - I should have ironed them!)  I think they'll be awesome with the other blocks in my last citrus quilt!

I think this will be a fun quilt.  I'll put this one on the list to finish next year.  Maybe it'll be 14 in 2014?  I'll have to think about that.

And I received this awesome QAYG tool caddy hoop from Betsy Lynn in the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap.  I love the cute Aneela Hoey fabrics she used, and that she sent it FULL of goodies.  Aren't those little aqua clothespins just the cutest.  And if that wasn't enough, there are a ton of fun scraps there too!  I hit the jack pot on this one too!

And I got this awesome paper pieced pillow from Kim (KMJ Creations) in the Holiday Edition Pillow Talk Swap.  Turns out we were partners with each other.  If her favorite palette is gray and purple, I imagine she had as much trouble with my brights on white style as I did with hers.  But isn't this adorable?  I love the fabrics she chose, and the wonky tree, and the fact that Santa looks like he's standing on a wobbly stool.  Just too cute.

The pillow is beautifully hand quilted.

And even the back is beautiful!

And I love that Santa is putting a star on the top of the tree.  I love stars - Christmas stars especially.


There are actually a couple more  swappy things waiting to have their pictures taken, but they didn't make it into the photo gallery today, and this post is already long enough so they will have to wait for another day.

What crafty things have you been working on?





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Showing Off - A Little Pillow Talk

This spring I had another chance to play along in the Pillow Talk Swap.  Pillow Talk was the first swap I participated in and it's always one of my favorites.  This time, I had a pretty good idea of the pillow I wanted to make for my partner from the start - this super fun Show Off pillow from Amanda's tutorial.  

And I knew I wanted to use this lovely bundle of fabric - Les Amis by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller.  It's not often that I know exactly what I want to make as soon as I receive my partner assignment.  I usually agonize over it for weeks before the plan comes together.  This time though, the hardest part was fitting it in amongst all the other projects, and naturally I wait until I am up against a deadline.

This was especially tricky this time as my youngest daughter and her husband came home for the weekend for the first time since she got married almost 2 years ago.  What a treat to have them come!

I managed to get the pillow top made on Thursday, after I finished another project I can't talk about just yet.  I did the machine quilting Saturday afternoon while they were at the beach.  Luckily, one of the things she wanted to do while she was home (besides go to the beach) was a Star Wars marathon - the original movies, 1970's style - so I had plenty of time for the hand quilting.

I used my (new-to-me) Accu Quilt for the first time on this project.  It was fabulous to have perfectly cut hexies to work with.  And I love the way Amanda's pattern shows off the fun animal prints from the Les Amis line.  It's a great way to showcase your favorite fabrics.

I'm thinking I might have to make this pattern again.

So Interconnected - A Story

 It's amazing what a small world the online quilting community really is.  Today, I want to tell you a story....

On Tuesday, when my sweet daughter posted on her blog about the quilt I made her for Christmas,  I got lots of wonderful comments on my own blog posts about the quilt.  It warmed my heart!  

One of those readers read my post about my Waterfall pillow and noticed that I said that while I was at the drugstore, this gorgeous fabric fell into my cart.  Ha!  Ha!

Not many people, I believe, buy gorgeous modern quilt fabric at the drug store.  Our local quilt shop just happens to be A&E Pharmacy.

It's really not much to look at on the outside, but inside is a wonderful selection of lovely modern quilt fabrics, notions, patterns, and a friendly, helpful staff.  If you're ever in Pensacola, this is the place for quilters to come to shop.

This is where I go when I need fabric (of course) or helpful advice.  A&E is where I pulled about 40 bolts to find the coordinating fabrics to finish the swoon blocks featured in the quilt above!  (Oh, I'll bet they loved me when it was time to put those away!!)

Anyway, back to my story...  After reading that comment, Cindy emailed me and said, "Funny, I buy fabric at a drug store too...." and we got to chatting online, quickly realized we both lived in the same town, and she invited me to the Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Saturday.  I've been meaning to go for months.  I really have.  But it's an hour away, and it just seems so far, and... and... and... (can you hear me whining???)

So, thanks to her kind invitation and suggestion that we convoy over to Crestview, I decided the time was right.  I had such a good time!  The ladies there were so friendly and welcoming.  I felt right at home.

And so talented!  I was so inspired by the beautiful things everyone brought for show and tell.

Kim even brought her Madrona Road Challenge quilt.  Gorgeous, isn't it???  In a stroke of irony, Kim used BD#1's Pointed in the Right Direction pillow tutorial as the focal point in her quilt.  Isn't it fabulous (the quilt, not the picture - it really doesn't do it justice, and I only took one shot ={  )?  Everyone was so complementary of my talented daughter, I felt like I was basking in reflected glory all day!

I even got to wear my cool name tag that lovethesky40 made for me.

And, I was invited to put my Little Apples Quilt in the 2013 Emerald Coast Quilt Show.  I've never entered a quilt in a show before.  This one is far from perfect, and I don't expect it to win anything at all, but Marcy, this year's ECMQG president, said they were looking for examples of modern quilting that had an "I can do that" feel, and this one fills that requirement for sure.  It is a charm square and jelly roll combination, suitable for the beginning quilter.  Of course, I was flattered.

One of the cool things about the ECMQG is that the meeting is combined with a sew day, so there is lots of opportunity to learn and bond and work.  We had a demonstration/lesson on paper piecing by the awesome Kira, using the amazing Wonky Alphabet pattern designed by founding ECMQG member Kelly who blogs at kelbysews.  Kelly was one of my first swap partners.  I still have trouble wrapping my mind around thinking inside out and backwards when paper piecing, but her tips were extremely helpful, and I did end up with a usable (I hope) set of letters for a little Valentine gift.

I also got to meet "the other Kelly" who was the first president of the ECMQG, and who was my partner for Pillow Talk 8 (I think it was 8...)

I even spent a couple of hours quilting my Fairy Tale Friends quilt, which has been sandwiched almost 6 weeks, and sitting there since... um... July???  It's about 50% done now, I think, so I'm excited to have made some progress.  I hope to finish it this week, and start on the next one.



In reflecting on this little set of circumstances, I was struck by how interconnected we all are.  It's kind of amazing really....

All in all, it was it was a fabulous day.  I can't wait to go back.

A Little Pillow Talk... Fun Mail

 If you're looking for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway, go here...

You may already know that one of my favorite swaps is the Pillow Talk Swap.  The swappers in it are crazy talented.  I am always a little intimidated when it's my turn to create.  The other side of that coin is that I've received the most A-MA-ZING pillows in this swap.  This one is no different.  This beauty came to me from the very talented Stephanie a/k/a SeaSteph from Tennessee.  It is lying flat because I don't have an extra pillow form - a fact that will have to be rectified very soon.

I love the star with the fussy cut flower in the center.  And the way she used the colors for the flower for the points.  So cool.

I love the borders within borders look.  Fun!

And the back is so pretty.  I never mess with the back very much, so this is a real treat.

I really love the pretty handmade card too (and I love how the colors coordinate!)  Being a "retired" Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I can appreciate a lovely handmade card when I see one!

Thanks, Stephanie, for a wonderful swap!

Pillow Talk

I just finished another round of the Pillow Talk Swap.  My package - along with the 8 others that needed to be mailed yesterday - is winging its way to my partner.  It has a long ways to go, so I hope it gets there safely, and doesn't take toooooo long.

Pillow Talk is very rewarding, but also really intimidating.  There are some a-maz-ing swappers who participate in this swap, and the things they create are just over the top - gorgeous pillows that I never would have even thought of and techniques I wouldn't dream of trying, although I do like to stretch myself a bit.

I dithered and dallied and changed my mind a million times in trying to decide what to make my partner.  She is a very talented quilter and has made me things before, but this is the first time I have sent something to her.  I kinda thought I wanted to do something with circles and finally settled on the drunkards path block.  Above is a preliminary layout.  After seeing the photo, I realized that I should track the orange all the way to the corner, so I exchanged out a couple of blocks.

In constructing the drunkards path blocks I've made before, I've always pinned the centers and stretched the curves to fit.  But this time I ran across a post on a bee block I was admiring that linked to a blog with a totally cool method of sewing curves.  If you're working on curves, take a minute (that's how long the video is) and check out this method.  It took a couple of tries to get the "rhythm" but it was fantastic.  I thought it would take hours to get these blocks made, but it took less than 30 minutes to make all 25 blocks, plus some extras.  That's a minute a block!  It.  Is.  Awesome.

Here is the pillow top put together.  Yup, I dug out my seam ripper and changed out the block in the upper left corner.  It looks totally out of place, huh?  Funny how you don't see it until you see it in a picture.  That's one of the things I'm trying to do now that I have a phone that takes decent pictures - take a photo of my creation before I reach the point of no return to see if it really works.  This practice has saved me a couple of blunders.

Here was another occasion to bring out my seam ripper.  I totally didn't see that this fabric was right side IN until I was sewing the rows together.  Glad I saw it before I got the whole thing together. 

I read a blog the other day where a non-English speaker couldn't remember what the seam ripper was called - she called it an "unseaming tool".  I think that sounds a lot more elegant that "seam ripper".  I may call it that from now on!

Here it is layered on the batting and backing, ready for quilting.  You can see here where I changed out that orange block in the corner.  This time it is in the upper right. 

I start getting really excited about this point in the construction, when I know that it's right and I know that its starting to look the way I want it to.  I really love the way the curves flow in this design.

I stitched in the ditch around the curves and along the seam, then hand quilted in the color of the blocks about 1/4 inch from the curves.  I really like hand quilting (I never thought I would say that!)  It adds so much to the design.

I was going to do my usual binding but my friend suggested piping.  I really love the elegant finish it gives to my little pillow.  I think I will try to use this technique more.  If you haven't tried piping, give it a whirl.  All you need is a zipper foot - unless you're doing a LOT of it, don't let anyone convince  you that you need a bunch of fancy tools.  Cut your fabric strip wide enough to cover the piping comfortably and have enough fabric to hang on to - you can trim it later if you need to.  I've found that it's much easier to trim it than to fight with it while you're trying to sew close to the piping.  If your needle is adjustable, move it as close to the piping edge as you can without sewing through the piping.  This piping adventure worked so well I don't know why I don't do more of it.

So there it is - my PTS pillow finished in an evening.  That fact alone had me pleased as punch.

This is one pillow I could have cheerfully kept for myself.  I may have to make another.